Bridge of Spies (2015, dir. Steven Spielberg)

Steven Spielberg's latest won't change your life, outlook, or play with your emotions the same way that some of his previous work arguably has.  It is a decent film and has its admirable qualities but it certainly is not in the category of the blockbuster or emotional powerhouse that you might expect from the maker of "Schindler's List", "E.T." and "Jaws".  What Spielberg does do is create a fully realized, compelling vision of the Cold War-era, late 1950's where the threat of nuclear annihilation was building to a high in the United States and espionage both at home and abroad was becoming a familiar household term.

Tom Hanks stars as Jim Donovan, an American lawyer who is enlisted by the CIA to negotiate a swap between an alleged Soviet spy caught in the U.S. and an American soldier captured in the Soviet Union.

The film consists of a lot of wheeling and dealing over the exchange of prisoners, all taking place in Germany at the time of the raising of the Berlin Wall.  The period detail is mesmerizing and accurate.  The cold, barren cinematography and atmosphere in this region makes tangible the political situation in Germany at the time and makes the cold that Donovan develops when his overcoat is stolen believable.

Spielberg is not content to paint a one-dimensional, evil portrait of the Soviet and German characters.  Instead, he creates people, Rudolph Abel (Mark Rylance) for example, as complex, admirable individuals who are caught up in the machinations of Cold War politics but strive to maintain a sense of dignity and valour. 

I was impressed with all the performances in "Bridge of Spies", particularly the two leads, Rylance and Hanks.  Their characters are sympathetic and multi-faceted and the actors embody them boldly and with finesse. 

This is a worthy addition to the Spielberg canon and is a riveting portrait of a chaotic time in our culture.

Sicario (2015, dir. Denis Villeneuve)

I missed "Sicario" in its initial run in my local theater.  Luckily, I found a screening in a city half and hour away in a little 40-seat theatre whose walls were so thin you could hear the movie in the adjacent room playing quite clearly.  That didn't deter from my enjoyment of this dark thriller from director Denis Villeneuve.

Emily Blunt plays Kate Macer, an FBI agent who is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs in the vicinity of the border between the U.S. and Mexico.  I've enjoyed Blunt's performances in previous films, specifically the Tom Cruise vehicle "Edge of Tomorrow" and she embraces this role as Macer with a mixture of vulnerability and vitriol in a way that makes her character sympathetic and charismatic.  Her moral compass is put to a test in this film and she does her best to maintain a sense of courageous righteousness in the face of unspeakable acts of law-bending and violence.

Benicio Del Toro has rarely been stronger.  He plays a character whose complex, conflicting poles of morality and treachery are fueled by the tragic fate of his family in the past.  Josh Brolin is also good as an unwavering CIA operative.

The film does a great job of painting a visceral portrait of the violent climate in Mexico and around its border with the U.S.  The drug war is so rampant you get the frustrated sense that it can never be brought under control.  There is a convoluted, twisted nature to the film's portrayal of the intricacies of power structures in the drug cartel that can be disorienting but compelling. 

This is one of the best films I've seen in 2015.  It will challenge you and hold your interest.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014, dir. Ana Lily Amirpour)

This is one of the weirdest movies I've seen this year.  I also have the impression that its one of the least substantial.

The "girl" in the title refers to a vampire.  She spends her lonely nights punishing the corrupt members of Bad City where she resides killing them my draining them of blood, as most vampires would.  What sets her apart from most vampires in most other movies is her fascination with music from her vinyl record collection as well as her fixation on only seeming to want to wipe out the bad people of her society.  In other words, she's picky.

Her loneliness is possibly remedied by the arrival of a young man into her life who could be a potential love interest.  They share a love of music and a certain existential isolation.

I liked the stark, black and white cinematography, the acting and the soundtrack.  But the story is lacking in substance and interest.  Not much groundbreaking territory is ventured into.   This is just another one of the many vampire films to come along in recent years that don't breathe much life into the genre.